What comes to mind for a foreigner when they hear the term ‘Hungarian music’? What happens when a foreign musician visits Hungary, discovers the atmosphere of its landscapes and cities, and in the process puts the experiences and compositions they have already acquired into a new context? The sounds, tastes and landscapes they have experienced here blend together in their compositions. We can see how they tap into these stimuli and, regardless of the genre, they create a special essence in their music that reflects the atmospheres they have experienced here. In the coming weeks, Hype&Hyper will feature twelve international musicians, mostly from Eastern and Central Europe, who have been in Hungary in the last two months and have performed in unusual places: from the Káli Basin to Tokaj, from modern classicism to experimental jazz, from Ukraine to Austria, please welcome the Echoes of Hungary.
Music, as a common language, is a bridge between different cultures. We need this connection especially today, because only human relationships can overcome the global difficulties and uncertainties of our world. Our current project, Echoes of Hungary, aims to present Hungary’s music-related destinations through the lens of international artists, as the country’s diverse musical institutions and popular venues bear witness to a rich musical culture that presupposes that our country is home not only to fantastic musicians but also to a large number of music-loving people.
In the last two months, in collaboration with Visit Hungary and the Hungarian Tourism Agency, the Hype&Hyper team invited twelve international musicians, mainly from the Central and Eastern European region, to visit the country and show the country’s special places from different aspects, according to the musicians’ individual interests, in a couple of hours or days. The different and unique locations of the country were not without live performances, and during the project music was played in the Botanical Garden of ELTE, but also in the night forest of Őrség.
From these experiences, music videos and portraits of the artists have been produced, as well as an English-language magazine called Echoes of Hungary, which will be available to the public in September in various music-related and other venues in Hungary and around the world.
You can also read about the interviews and the places the musicians have visited in the coming weeks here, in the online section of Hype&Hyper.
We are excited to share the work of the past months, which has been full of exciting characters, classical and even experimental jazz tunes, travel, experiences and good vibes, and has once again shed new light on our unshakable and simple claim that the Central and Eastern European region and its people are not only different but special—and that they shape not only this part of the world but are of global interest.
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